Seahawks Post Game Notes

Insiders NFL Scouts

09/21/2003

News and notes from week-three of the NFL season.

--DT Norman Hand was not active Sunday. Hand is recovering from a toe injury
suffered during a Sept. 14 win at Arizona. With a bye week ahead, Hand will have
had a three-week recovery period by the time Seattle plays another game. His
absence against the Rams left Seattle a bit softer up the middle. DT Cedric Woodard started in his place. Seattle's run defense remained mostly effective by
swarming to the ball with MLB Randall Godfrey in the lead. --DT
Cedric Woodard started Sunday in place of injured DT Norman Hand. Woodard did a
decent job against the run, staying on his feet and sliding down the line of
scrimmage to make plays. --RB Shaun Alexander was a late scratch
from the lineup Sunday when his wife went into labor hours before kickoff. He
arrived to the game too late to start. RB Maurice Morris started in his place.
Alexander arrived in time to participate in Seattle's fourth series. He ran off
gains of 12 and 17 yards on his first two carries. Both runs were to the left
side behind LT Walter Jones and LG Steve Hutchinson --RB Maurice
Morris was added to the starting lineup Sunday when RB Shaun Alexander was
tending to the birth of a daughter. Alexander arrived in time to take part in
the fourth series. --RT Matt Hill struggled mightily Sunday in
his first NFL start. Hill entered the season as the third-string RT. Regualr
starting RT Chris Terry is serving a four-game suspension to open the season.
Backup RT Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack is recovering from a toe injury. At times,
the Seahawks struggled to get off plays because Little was pushing Hill into QB
Matt Hasselbeck. The offense got rolling a bit when coaches had FB Mack Strong
help Hill in protection. --RT Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack was
active Sunday but did not start because of a toe injury. His replacement, RT
Matt Hill, struggled badly against Rams DE Leonard Little. --WR
Darrell Jackson started slowly Sunday, dropping a potential big-gainer on an
early second-and-16. The drive ended one player later and Seattle punted.
Jackson bounced back with an over the-shoulder reception for a 35-yard gain. The
play set up a FG shortly before halftime. Jackson added a 15-yard TD reception
in the third quarter. --QB Matt Hasselbeck faced consistent
pressure from Rams DE Leonard Little, leading to all kinds of problems for the
offense. Hasselbeck managed to avoid a few sacks by running around, but he
struggled to find any kind of rhythm with receivers. --LB
Orlando Huff recovered a muffed punt for an early TD on Sunday but he later left
the game with a sprained ankle. --LB Isaiah Kacyvenski made an
immediate impact on special teams in his first game since suffering a sprained
ankle during training camp. Kacyvenski derailed an early Rams kick return with a
diving tackle. Later, officials flagged Kacyvenski for a personal-foul penalty
on an extra point. --G Jerry Wunsch remained on the bench even
though RT Matt Hill struggled against the Rams on Sunday. Wunsch was a
three-year starter at RT for Tampa Bay before joining the Seahawks last season.
Coaches feel Hill has better feet. --PK Josh Brown missed his
first pressure kick of the season, a 35-yarder midway through the fourth quarter
Sunday. Seattle trailed by a 23-17 count at the time. Brown's kickoffs also were
suspect. One traveled to the 15-yard line.